72 Sex Buyers And Escorts Arrested, Including Temecula Residents

SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — An effort to prevent sexual slavery and human trafficking netted 72 arrests (see below) in Riverside County over a recent four-day period — including multiple arrests in Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and other nearby cities and unincorporated areas.

The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the operation — dubbed Operation Reclaim & Rebuild — that ran Jan. 27-30. The task force targeted people who seek prostitutes online, but it was also part of an annual multi-agency statewide initiative that focuses on rescuing human trafficking victims, arresting their captors and disrupting the demand for victims, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department reported.

Over the four-day period, sting operations were held in the cities of Temecula, Hemet, Corona, Moreno Valley, and Palm Desert. The task force officers placed "decoy" advertisements on websites commonly used by people looking for sex. When a prospective customer replied to an ad and a sex deal was struck, a meeting spot was offered. Once a customer showed up at the agreed upon location, he or she was arrested.

Task force officers also targeted online escort advertisements. In those cases, officers would respond to escort ads and agree to sex acts. The escorts — all women in this instance — were then arrested when they showed up at an agreed upon meeting spot.

Following booking, all 72 arrestees were released with their written promise to later appear in court.

"Prostitution is not a 'victimless' crime," the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said in a press release. "Ninety-five percent of sex trafficking victims are women or children. Those victimized by commercial sexual exploitation frequently have long histories of emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse or trauma in their backgrounds.

"The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates one in six endangered runaways reported are likely victims of sex trafficking," the department continued. "Sex trafficking victims are often subjected not only to severe forms of emotional, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their trafficker but are also frequently physically and sexually assaulted by those that solicit them for prostitution."

Arrested during the sting were: Janee Coleman, 29, of Murrieta; Anthony Norman, 49, of Murrieta; Javier Espinoza, 59, of Wildomar; Alex Sandoval, 20, of Vista; Roberto Hernandez, 35, of Temecula; Ishan Kaushal, 31, of Hillsborough, OR; Rockefeller Francia, 49, of Winchester; Francisco Evangelista, 42, of Eastvale; Alex Camacena, 19, of Temecula; Lawika Lesa, 25, of Winchester; Francisco Estrella Osorino, 27, of Fallbrook; Eric Quibuyen, 31, of Murrieta; Precious Poutoa, 25, of San Diego; Cary White, 52, of Temecula; Cristino Cardenas, 21, of Hemet; Samy Dighlawi, 31, of Temecula; Hank Bender, 33, of Venice; Tinisha Simpson, 33, of Fallbrook; Luis Mandujano, 34, Riverside; Labib Arbid, 37, of Corona; Roberto Leos, 23, of Hemet; Waqar Khan, 27, of Murrieta; Ezequiel Guzman Mora, 46, of Whittier; Waleed Emneser, 34, of San Francisco; Aleeysha Henry, 26, of San Diego; Jose Garcia, 43, of Corona; Kevin Brennan, 49, of Escondido; Xochitl Hernandez, 45, of Anaheim; Daniel Shoaff, 36, of San Bernardino; Elisa Herkner, 45, of Hemet; William Brummer, 49, of Temecula; Jacob Mokate Ludovico, 32, of Hemet; William Badal, 65, of Menifee; Breanna Urdiena, 24, of Phoenix, AZ; Anthoni Nguyen, 31, of Hemet; Gabriel Ojeda-Diaz, 21, of Hemet; Andrew Yribe, 26, of San Jacinto; Marvin Hubbard, 23, of Hemet; Adrian Ochoa, 20, of Moreno Valley; Gail Waltz, 66, of Rancho Mirage; Matthew Mann, 43, of La Quinta; Daniel Delval, 36, of Indio; Sarah Hubbard, 32, of Chino; Efren Monroy, 42, of Riverside; Jennifer Hodsdon, 53, Transient; Andrew Romero, 23, of Indio; Kory Heiken, 34, of Las Vegas, NV; Tia Byrd, 28, of Chandler, AZ; Michael Deeb, 21, of Palm Desert; Ejasma McGuire, 33, Transient; John Ellsworth, 45, of Indio; Ethann Putman, 36, March Air Reserve Base; Sharon Joyce, 52, Hemet; Hector Hernandez, 19, Moreno Valley; Santiago Lopez, 39, Oceanside; Itaska Dean, 29, of Chino; Travis Carter, 39, of Moreno Valley; Ebonique Walton, 21, of Oakland; James Lewis, 23, of Oakland; Carlos Guerrero, 21, of Menifee; Clemente Jr Rodriguez, 21, of Anza; Misael Linares, 29, of Menifee; Ryan Ware, 29. of Hemet; Alyssa-Tierra McClendon Sapp, 23, of Las Vegas, NV; David Kohn, 58, of Jacksonville, NC; Quinn Davis, 29, of Lake Elsinore; Damion Hayes, 36, of Temecula; Riku Mukherjee, 34, of Temecula; Samuel Martinez, 29, of Murrieta; Miguel Diaz De Leon Garza, 24 of Fallbrook.